Injector



, 1,539,319 s. l.. KNEAss INJECTOR Filed .Jung so, '1925 2 sheets-sheet1 May 26, 1925.

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Patented May 26, 1925.

ur'ul'rlan STATES;

PATENT OFFICE.

STRICKLAND L. KNEASS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO WIL-LIAM SELLERS & COMPANY, INCORPORATED, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA,

A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

iNJEoToR.

To all whom t may concern.:

Be it known that I` STRICKLAND L Kxnxss. a citizen of the United States,residing at Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, and, State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Injectors,of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description,`reference being hadD to the accompanying drawings, which form a part ofthis specifica-tionr My invention relates to injectors, such. forexample, as are used for supplying feed water to steam boilers.

The object, of my invention is to". provide an improved injector wherebythev latent heat in exhaust steam will be utilized as a motive agent toassist in feeding a steam boiler, as, for example, a locomotive boiler,and at the same tinie whereby the heat units in such exhaust steam willbe returned to the boiler.

I accomplish the objects of my inve'n tion by means of certainrelatively proportioned receiving and discharging nozzles, in-

' let areas for water and openings for discharge, so as to obtain fromthe waste heat of exhaust steam sufficient energy to establish a.continuous jet. of water and condensed steam passing through thenozzles, resulting in a terminal pressure much above that of theAinitial pressure of the exhaust steam. The jet is discharged into thereceiving chamber of a live steam injector under such pressure as toenablet to receive and force water, at a higher tempera-- ture thanheretofore, against initial boiler pressure.

More particularly, the object of my invention is accomplished by'meansof a novel and simple combination `of tubes and nozzles so proportionedand pierced by nariow lateral openings protected from external pressureand separated by self-closingrr valves, so that the jet` within theheater nozzles is capable of rejoining and automatically re-establishingthe jet in case of excess counter pressure produced by the live steaminjector. At the same time, the up- Application led .Tune 30, 1923.Serial No. 648,651.

ward flow vof the supply water through the `i exhaust steam nozzle intothe exhaust pipe or cylinders is prevented by the special locat-ion' ofthe lateral openings.

By virtue of my invention, it will be noted a large percentage of heatfrom a waste product is obtained and there is established a continuousinjection of feed wa.

ter into the boiler at such a high tem`` perature that the eiiciency ofthe steam producing plant is increased, while at the same time internalstrains are so reduced as to materially lessen the cost of maintenance.

It will also be noted that the results obtained by my invention areobtained with simplicity of construction and manipulation and areduction in attention necessary on the part of the operator.

Having now indicated, in a general way,

the nature, purpose and advantages of my invention, I will proceed toamore detailed description 'of' apreferred embodiment thereof, withreference to the accompanyino` drawings, in Which Pig. l is a verticalsectional View of a device embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 2-2 Figure 1. l

Fig. 3 is a'sectional view on line 3 3- Figure 1. y

a represents acasingprovided with an inlety b for the admission ofexhaust steam to a steam nozzle b which dischar es into a combining tubec, having the orm of a Venturi tube. The combining tube isV providedinitsupper portion with a narrow lateral opening d affording communicationwith van overfiow chamber e, and in its middle and lower portions withnarrow lateral openings f and f affording communication with an overtiowchamber g. Outlet from the chamber e into the chamber g is` through acheck valve h and final outlet,

from chamber gto the air is through a check valve 2'. The combining tubeforms at its lower end a. delivery nozzle o' Adjacent the upper end ofthe combining tube venturi.

c is a waterchamber j provided with a water inlet controlled by a valveZ. A narrow annular opening mi is provided for the passage of water fromthe water chamber into the combinin tube.

The construction o the overfiow chambers e and g and their special usewith the protecting check valve L is novel in any jet apparatus in theform of a Venturi tube 0p'- erated by exhaust steam where theproportional area of the steam admission nozzle is ten or more timesthan that of the delivery tube, and larger than that of the venturi atthe upper lateral aperture. It preventsl any injurious infiuence fromthe discharge from the lower lateral apertures of the combining tube,permits a wider range of proportions between the water and steamsupplies, and renders the operation more positive. Further, the upperlateral aperture d may be placed nearer the end of the steam nozzle,rendering the apparatus more easy to start under all conditions,especially when the pressure of the steam exceeds that of the head ofthe water supply. In cases of similar separation in high pressureinjectors, such as the use of a special valve protecting the spacebetween the lower end of its draft and the upper end of its combiningtube, the location of this space or opening is at a cross-sectional partof the tubes considerably larger than the limiting area of the steamnozzle, essential for the purpose of producing a partial vacuum in thewater supply chamber during steam discharge.

Further, the construction includes the discharge of fiuid from the upperlateral aperture al of the low pressure venturi into the lower chamber gso that in case there be a lower absolute pressure within this chamber,the upper check h will open and any waste will be entrained by themoving jet. through the lower apertures f and f of the The constructionalsov gives the advantage of double protection against miiux of air tothe upper lateral aperture as any leakage must pass under the two checkvalves 71, and z'.

Adjacent the lower end of the delivery tubes c is a live steam chambern, provided with a live steam inlet o and a steam nozzle p incommunication with a series of forcing tubes g forming a Venturipassage.

A chamber fr adapted to receive water from the delivery tubes c of theheater nozzles is in communication with the forcing tubes (l, the flowof water being controlled by a check valve s.

The forcing tubes Q are provided with several narrow lateral openings twhich afford an outlet for overow into a chamber u and finally to theair through check valve lv.

The forcing tubes are provided at the upper end with a terminal checkvalve w, which controls the discharge into a final delivering chambera2, from whence the water passes to feed a boiler through feed pipe y.

The operation of the device will be understood from the following:

Exhaust or low pressure live steam from an engine cylinder isadmitted'through the inlet b in the body or casing a, flows through thesteam nozzlel b and the upper narrow lateral opening d of the combiningtube to the upper overflow chamber e, and discharges in part under theupper overflow check valve It; another portion of the steam flowsthrough the middle and lower narrow lateral openings ofthe combiningtube into the llower overflow chamber g, both portions finding outlet tothe air by lifting and discharging from under the final overflow checkvalve i. This fiow from the engine cylinder may be allowed to occurduring the time that the engine is in operation, as the device may beused with or without an intercepting valve between the exhaust supplyAand the body or casing, since the waste pipe may be connected in suchmanner as to not cause inconvenience to the operator by the outflow ofsteam.

Vater supply is admitted by opening the valve Z, entering the waterchamber of the injector body under a head or pressure; it passes in athin sheet through the narrow annular space m, between the outer wallsof the exhaust steam nozzle b and the inner wall of the upper part ofthe combining` tube c; contact with the inflowing steam immediatelycauses condensation, producing a high vacuum, which increases the inflowof both the steam and of the water. The resultant jet discharges withrapid acceleration, due to the continued impulsive action of thestcanu'past the upper narrow lateral aperture d and through theconvergent partel of the combining tube, through theI narrow throat ofits delivery nozzle c', producing a head in the chalnber r of many timcsthat of the initial pressure within the exhaust steam supply pipe.

ln case of surplusage of water` due to the position of the water supplyvalve or incorrect location of the exhaust steam nozzle relative tothecross section of itsl combining tube or insufficient steam pressure,waste will occur through a narrow lower lateral opening f into theoverflow chamber g, pass under the lower overflow check i to the air; aswill occur in case of operation against excessive counter pressure,without destroying the continuons action of the jet within the upperparts of the combiningtube.

During this continuity of the jet, a partial vacuum within the combinedupper part of the combining jet caused by condensation of the inflowingsteam is communicated to 4the upper ovcrfiow chamber e..

lli

the`live steam forcing set of tubes and nozzles from which outflow maybe obtained through the several narrow lateral openings in-the tubes totheir overflow chamber u, finding outlet to the air by passing. under gthe final overflow valve 0.

To complete the required series of operations, live steam from theboiler is admitted to the chamber n through the opening o, dischargesthrough a small guiding nozzle p, which forces the entering waterfrom'the exhaust steam heater lthrough a series of convergent anddivergent tubes g, and lifts the terminal check valve w, dischargingthrough the final delivery chamber a: into theboiler feed pipe y. Thenarrow lateral apertures t within and at the end of the forcing tubes qare proportioned so as to give free relief to the live steam dischargingfrom the nozzle .p in case of temporaryv interruption of the waterorsteam supply. Under certain conditions when the terminal overliow checkvalve ofthev live steam set of tubes is free to open, the combinedheater andinjector is able to restart automatically without theattention of the operator.

In a -case where the terminal overflow check valve rw is held tightly toits Seat by means of the screw stem, free outlet to the steam tubes isclosed and might produce an excessive counter pressure against theaction of the jet of the exhaust steam heater; butA the consequentreturn or back How 'oi steam or water from the live steam tubes is pre'-vente'cl by the automatic closure of the check' valve s; this closure ofthe delivery check of the exhaust steam heater lprevents back How fromthe live steam set, through the de-l livery tube of the exhaust steamheater and only produces -a. counterpressure againstv which the heatercannot operate; this results in waste oi. waterand condensed steam fromthe lower overflow of the exhaust heater which tnds outlet under'thecheck valve i of the lower overllow chamber without interfering, withthe continuity ofthe jet of the exhaust steam heater within the upperparts of the combining tubes so 'that by; releasing t-he overflow checkvalve lof. the l1ve steam set so as to permit relief `of pressure engineor locomotive can'be retrieved, and

this amount or percentage depends upon the relative proportionsofentering steam and water supply. It is also known that the ability of alive steam injector to receive and deliver warm -water against initialpressure depends upon the velocity and `the thickness of "the annularsheet of water at the limiting area of the receiving en d of the livesteam combining tube. To obtain this end, the pressure produced by theexhaust steam heater nozzles is. made as high as practicable and Ltheconstricted area between the discharging end of the live steam nozzleand its combinlng tube is made very narrow so as to roduce a thinannular cone of water entering the live steam combining tube,

which results in a large condensing surface for. the live steam jet. Bymeans of the proportions of nozzles and tubes, I have obtained a hightemperature of delivered water from the exhaust steam heater, whichenters the live steam combining tube with great velocity, and isdischarYged into the boiler at a of that of the initial live steam;Under such condltlons, there will be pressure above the atmosphere inthe overflow ychamber sur` -temperature not far below the temperaturerounding the combining tube of the` live steam set of tubes which wouldcause an out?l flow of hot water and steam from the terters Patent is:atmosphere from' the overflow of the live 1. A steam lboilerlfeedercomprising, in

`which 'may be by combination, an injector comprising a steam nozzle, acombining tube provided with a lateral overflow opening positioned at apoint where the cross sectional area of the tube is substantiallysmaller than the minimum diameter of the steam nozzle and greaterthanthe area of thewater entrance, means to prevent influx through saidfopening, and a delivery tube operated by low pressure steam, a secondinjector comprising a steam nozzle, a combining tube and adelivery tubeoperated by high pressure steam, a passage affording communication fromsaid first mentioned injector to said second injector and a check valvein said passage adapted to preventreflux. s

2. A steam boiler vfeeder comprising, in combination, an injector,comprising a steam nozzle, a combiningv tube and a delivery tubeoperated by low pressure steam, delivering to a second injector operatedby high pressure steam and comprising asteam nozzle, a combining tubeand a ldelivery tube, a check valve adapted to prevent reux from thelatter injector, a lateral 'open\` of the Water entrance to thecombiningv tube` a chamber enclosing said opening, a second chamber incommunication with the said first chamber, a second opening in saidcombining tube positioned between said first mentioned opening and thepoint of minimum diameter of the low pressure delivery tube, saidchamber being provided with a port tothe air, and outwardly openingcheck valve controlling said port, a lateral open- 10 ing in the highpressure combining tube, a

chamber surrounding said opening having an outlet port to the air, and acheck valve to prevent influx through said port.

In testimony of which invention, I have

